Legislation on financial aid to maintain and improve the ecosystemic benefits provided by forests includes aid for the purpose of developing and restoring riparian zones along waterways flowing through woodland.

Applicants must submit their application to the district authority with jurisdiction, which will notify them of the decision of the Nature and Forest Agency (Administration de la nature et des forêts).

Who is concerned

Any owner of forest land.

Where land is jointly owned by multiple natural or legal persons, the aid will be granted only once per plot.

Prerequisites

Those who own more than 20 hectares of forest must provide the government administration department with a valid document relating to planned forestry activities:

• which applies to all their forest holdings; and
• has been approved by the government administration.

The land in question must be in a listed green zone. The following are ineligible:

• lands where pesticides are used; or
• lands on which:
  • groundworks that harm the soil structure are carried out; or
  • drainage works or fertilisation are carried out.

The intended work may include the restoration of riparian zones initially comprising stands of softwood species which are non-indigenous or unsuitable to the location, using indigenous natural forest associations which are suited to the location.

Deadlines

Applicants must file their applications prior to the commencement of any work.

How to proceed

Filing an application

When filing the application with the head of the district concerned, applicants must state the following on the form (available under 'Forms / Online services' below):

• their surname and first name;
• their address;
• their telephone number;
• their banking institution and account number;
• their national identification number;
• the total area of the forest property;
• information about the area in question: commune, section, locality, cadastral number, protective zone, cadastral surface and surface area affected.

If the applicant owns a farm, they must also specify:

• the farm holding number;
• the farm accident insurance number.

Supporting documents

The application must be accompanied by the following:

• a topographic map (scale 1:10,000) showing the location of the site;
• an extract of a cadastral map (scale 1:2,500) for the plots in question.

Decision

The head of the district concerned will inform the applicant of the Nature and Forest Agency's decision, and the measures to be taken to receive a subsidy.

Amount of aid

The aid comprises:

• a single indemnity for future loss of trees that have not yet reached the end of their economic usefulness, based on a scale measured in euros per hectare;
• a sum of EUR 75 per are for reforestation work carried out in riparian zones hosting natural indigenous forest associations suitable for the geographic location.

The aid is disbursed once the work has been completed, and a formal acceptance report is issued.

Requirements

For restoration work in riparian zones with indigenous natural forest associations suitable to the location, the beneficiary is required to:

• reserve a strip of land at least 5 metres wide, populated with natural hardwood trees, along the waterway in question:
  • by removing all softwood vegetation;
  • by reforesting the area through planting or natural regeneration;  
• remove any softwood vegetation as and when required, and plant hardwood forests composed of indigenous species suited to the local environment (European alder, sycamore, pedunculate oak) in the area adjacent to the riparian strip and at a distance of less than 60 metres from the edge of the waterway;
• carry out forestry activities in such a way as to avoid any traffic in the riparian zone and, as far as possible, safeguard the ground in the remainder of the zone to be restored.

Repayment of aid

Any aid paid out must be repaid to the State Treasury when:

• it was obtained through knowingly false or incomplete representations on the part of the beneficiary;
• the beneficiary has failed to comply with the conditions to which the granting of the aid was subject. In that event, the beneficiary must also pay interest on the amount given, at the legal base rate, calculated as from the day of payment to the day of repayment.

If a false declaration is found to have been made through gross negligence or through failure to adhere to the principles of good forestry practices, the beneficiary is precluded from receiving aid for the year in question.

If they make a deliberate misrepresentation, they are excluded for the following year as well.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact